Sheila's Books
Click on the covers to read more or order autographed copies!







My Webrings



Crazy Hip Blog Mamas Members!





Photobucket


Photobucket





Medical Billing
Medical Billing



Advertising
For ALL Your Graphic Needs

Dine Without Whine - A Family 

Friendly Weekly Menu Plan
It's Not Easy Being Green
I'm sorry posts have been lighter here for the last few weeks. I'm in the middle of my heavy speaking schedule, and it does get crazy around here.

Next week I'm on the road for five days, and ironically I may have more time then because I'm in a hotel room all day and the kids aren't with me. I only speak at night. So I'm looking forward to that, although I am going to miss my kids!

Anyway, we're taking off for the weekend for a youth retreat and I likely won't be able to blog. So I'm just warning you now!

But here's my column for this week. Every week I write a column that appears in a few Canadian and U.S. publications, and here it is for this week. I regretted it almost as soon as I wrote it because I hate hate mail, and this one is guaranteed to generate a lot. My inbox is already lighting up. But what can you do? It's what I believe. Here you go:

I was green before green was hip. In the mid 1990s I used cloth diapers on my babies. I have always used both sides of 8 ½ by 11 paper before recycling it, so
I’m one of the few who actually likes junk mail. Free paper! In my old house five composters were biodegrading all at one time, which is probably driving the new owners nuts. I love my clothesline. I have always loved hunting through thrift stores. I saved empty milk bags to use as freezer bags. And I take my bicycle, complete with the child trailer behind, to the grocery store. It’s too small for my kids, but it will do when I just need to pick up a few things.

I did all these things before David Suzuki (for my American friends, he's the Canadian equivalent of Al Gore) started lecturing us about them. But I didn’t do these things just for the environment. I did them because I’m cheap. The environmental benefits were just a nice added bonus.

I think everybody should be into the environment because then everybody wins: those who live near landfills; those who love the wilderness; those who want to breathe clean air; and those who are trying to make ends meet.

Yet while I like being green, I’m not a green fanatic. I can’t get too excited about global warming when the earth hasn’t actually warmed since 1998. Personally, I’m much more concerned with the fact that we might all jump on the global warming bandwagon so much that we’ll wreck our economy in the process, and thus relegate the Third World to permanent abject poverty. And with the current rush to biofuels inflating food prices, many are already hovering on the brink of starvation.

The Suzukis of the world tell us we have to sacrifice now because so many will die later, but many are dying now. Aren’t their lives worth something? And whether or not he cares to admit it, there isn’t a scientific consensus about global warming and its causes.

But the other reason I’m not a green fanatic is because so many who are green fanatics are hypocritical. I am sick of seeing rich actors and actresses jet all over the world and then preach to us about how they are saving the world by buying carbon offsets, unlike the rest of us plebes. Do you know whose carbon footprint is really mall? My mother-in-law’s. She doesn’t drive. She doesn’t jump on a jet on a whim. She doesn’t buy junk, and she’s even getting over her Santa habit at Christmastime. She lives in a regular sized house and tries to keep her energy bill low. She doesn’t have a hot tub, or a sauna, or a home theatre. She’s not constantly buying bottled water; she drinks what’s in her tap. And she recycles and composts and gardens galore.

Al Gore, on the other hand, travels galore. He flew to Bali, with all the other global warming gurus, to talk about how we are wrecking the planet by our carbon emissions. The world’s media went to Bali, too, bringing the grand total to 10,000 people, and leaving a carbon footprint equal to that of a city of about 3,000,000 people in one day.

If the world is honestly in dire straits, why does Al Gore still have a twenty room mansion? Why did David Suzuki travel across the country in a diesel bus, rather than giving Internet seminars? Why did Prince Charles jet to New York to receive a green award from Al Gore? Why do Gore and Suzuki own more than one home? Why don’t they practice what they preach?

Green is now the “in” thing, and the rich are embracing it. But those who are really green aren’t rich. They’re just everyday folks sorting their recyclables, turning their heat down at night to save on energy bills, and camping in the summer rather than flying to Fiji. If these guys want to convince us global warming is enough of a threat that we should wreck our economy and starve the Third World, maybe they should give up the high life and start living the way we do. Then maybe we’d believe them more. Until then, I’d rather fight for the rights of those being preyed upon by higher food prices. That’s an immediate threat that there is no denying.


Don't miss a Reality Check! You can sign up to get them delivered in your inbox here.

Labels: ,

13 Comments:

At 9:51 AM , Blogger Michelle @ Sew-Krafty said…

Oh, girl! Put your armour on BEFORE you open any mail :)
If I liked you before, I'm madly in love with you now!!!

Amen. Amen. And amen!

 

At 10:29 AM , Blogger Dianne - Bunny Trails said…

Very well said, Sheila! I just read this in the newsletter and couldn't agree more. It's rather remarkable - and extremely frustrating - how blind people can be to their own hypocrisy. Particularly when they lead hoards of people astray with their foolishness.

I've been making more efforts at being green, not in an Al Gore sort of way, but in a good steward of the resources given to us God sort of way. Also in a save our family some money sort of way. :D

 

At 11:13 AM , Blogger Mrs.Naz@BecomingMe said…

Excellent post. I love the line about celebrities going green but living in mansions. Double standards

 

At 9:31 AM , Blogger Barb Szyszkiewicz said…

THANK YOU for this excellent post.
You won't get any hate mail from me!

 

At 8:37 AM , Blogger Tara said…

Amen! Just an ordinary mom here doing what I can to reduce, reuse and recycle! :) No jet setting, no million dollar mansions. Well written article.

 

At 1:16 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said…

What a terrific article.

I am cheap as well and also believe that we are not to waste. I also agree that it shouldn't take priority over people. I just hope that people don't use the hypocrisy to not try to waste less (as one who passes a huge landfill everyday!).

 

At 9:09 PM , Blogger Sandra said…

I just love you, and this post was just brilliant. It's amazing how you always say what I'm thinking!

You rock!

 

At 12:04 AM , Blogger Cassie said…

Perfectly put! I just found your blog today - and what a great post to read!! You are already in my Reader!

 

At 2:42 PM , Blogger Katrina said…

Amen! I totally agree with you. =)
I am so tired of hypocrites... and not just the "green" ones.

 

At 8:13 PM , Blogger Barb Szyszkiewicz said…

I mentioned this post at my blog and had a few readers comment favorably. So if you want some "comment love" come on over :)
http://sfomom.blogspot.com/2008/05/more-musings-on-all-things-green.html

Thanks for sticking to your guns.

 

At 2:41 AM , Blogger Gombojav Tribe said…

Every Saturday I post a "blog of the week." This is it! Look for it on Saturday on my blog.

EXCELLENT! I was talking to a friend about this very thing today! Being ecological is often just being economical!

LOVE your gutsy column!

 

At 2:43 AM , Blogger Gombojav Tribe said…

Oh, my blog is:

www.gombojav.blogspot.com

Blessings!

 

At 5:03 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said…

Bingo. It's SO encouraging to know there are at least a few people who aren't drinking the Gullible Warming Kool-Aid. Responsible use of resources is a no-brainer. Trashing the economy to fight an imaginary enemy is nuts. Thank you so much for speaking out so eloquently.

 
Post a Comment
<< Home
 


About Me

Name: Sheila

Home: Belleville, Ontario, Canada

About Me: I'm a Christian author of a bunch of books, and a frequent speaker to women's groups and marriage conferences. Best of all, I love homeschooling my daughters, Rebecca and Katie. And I love to knit. Preferably simultaneously.

See my complete profile

Follow This Blog:

 Subscribe to To Love, Honor and Vacuum

Follow on Twitter:
Follow on Facebook:


Important Links
Previous Posts


Categories
Popular Archived Posts
Archives
Christian Blogs
Mom Blogs
Marriage/Intimacy Blogs
Blogs For Younger/Not Yet Married Readers
Housework Blogs
Cooking/Homemaking Blogs
Writing Links
Credits
Blog Design by Christi Gifford www.ArtDesignsbyChristi.com

Images from www.istockphoto.com

Related Posts with Thumbnails